The 64th Annual Tidewater Science & Engineering Fair (TSEF) will be
March 14, 2015 at Old Dominion University's Webb Center.
Since 1951, the TSEF has encouraged middle school and high school students from
Williamsburg to Virginia Beach to become directly involved in the processes of
research and to develop the technical writing skills needed to clearly and
effectively communicate the results of their experiments. By encouraging
students' interest in the STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Math), we hope to inspire and encourage them to study the "hard
subjects" that will prepare them for careers as leaders of the workforce of
the future.

The Tidewater Science Congress (TSC), the organization that stages the TSEF, is a
federally recognized 501(c)3 organization. Since 2005, the TSC has relied entirely
on contributions from industry, individuals, and professional organizations to
support the TSEF. The AFCEA HR Chapter contributes each year to help meet expenses
of the TSEF and we ask our members to support the TSEF with a donation to help
defray the costs of the event. Private funding has not only sustained the TSEF, it
has enabled the event to have a greater impact on science education in the Hampton
Roads area.

The AFCEA Hampton Roads Chapter has also been proud to support the TRSF by
providing prize money for outstanding projects in areas of interest to AFCEA and
by recruiting Chapter members to serve as science fair judges. As a Special Awards
Sponsor at the TSEF, the AFCEA Hampton Roads Chapter presents $900 in prize money
to students in the Junior (Middle School) and Senior (High School) Divisions. 1st,
2nd, and 3rd Place winners receive prizes of $200, $150, and $100 respectively. A
panel of Chapter members judges projects to select the winners.

The TSEF is open to all home-schooled, private school, and public school students
from seven counties (Accomack, Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Northampton,
Southampton, and York) and ten cities (Chesapeake, Franklin, Hampton, Newport News,
Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach and Williamsburg).

1st Prize: Mr. Xinye Zhang, Governor’s School, York CountyA Novel Light Trap (Physics & Astronomy) - The concept of a light trapping device can be very useful in important applications such as weak signal sensing and optical switching. An effective light trap can significantly enhance the absorption and conversion capability from light to other forms of energy such as thermal or electrical energy

2nd Prize: Mr. Glory Kim, York High School, York County Public SchoolsThe Effects of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles on the Energy Conversion Process of Organic Solar Cells (Physics & Astronomy) - Organic solar cells exhibit tremendous promise in providing an alternative to silicon-based solar cells; however, the currently low efficiencies of these devices prohibit practical applications. As a relatively new area of research, there are many major factors which hinder these types of solar cells. The project was to determine whether or not the addition of such a layer would overcome these problems and increase the efficiency of these specific organic polymer solar cells.

3rd Prize: Mr. Nigel Armstrong, Andy Hibbs, and Raj Patel, Poquoson High School, Poquoson City Public SchoolsTesting the "Off the Grid" System for Secure password Generation (Computer Science) - The purpose of the experiment was to test if the "Off the Grid" was just as or more effective than a password that has a high level of a security. The "Off the Grid" system is a new form of password generation that creates high security passwords that can be easily memorized. It used a unique Latin square of letter to make the passwords.

Junior Division Prize Winners

1st Place: Mr. Nalin Ranjan, Kemps Landing Magnet School, Virginia Beach Public SchoolsThe Effect of Changing Queries of Animals on the Best Possible Alignment (Computer Science) - This project is the result of comparing various hemoglobin sequences and finding the best possible Needleman Wunsch score between the two. Out of trillions of possible alignments, there is only one possible alignment that has the highest score.

2nd Place: Ms. Carey Crooks, Washington Middle School, Newport News Public SchoolsGoing Forward with Desalinization (Biochemistry) - The effectiveness of an organic draw solution on sea water forward osmosis desalination was evaluated in a study that demonstrates potential worth. The hypothesis, ‘If an organic draw solution is used, then a forward osmosis process can be used to desalinate sea water and an activated carbon filter can then remove the organic draw solute, all without the use of electric power,’ was researched.

3rd Place: Mr. Bobby Grey, York County Middle School, York County Public SchoolsElectrical Motor Experiment (Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical) - The purpose of this experiment was to find out what battery/set of magnets/number of coils makes the coil on an electric motor rotate fastest.